Aluminum building

ABSTRACT

An all aluminum building having an assembly system using extruded structural members having unique cross-sectional configurations which allow the structural support members to be completely constructed on the building site and which interlock and fit together in such a manner as to form an easily assembled, yet structurally sound building without requiring the use of special construction techniques. The extruded structural support members are used in conjunction with prefabricated aluminum sheet panels for constructing the roof and side walls of the building.

United States Patent [191 Castle [11] 3,798,853 [451 Mar. 26,1974

1 1 ALUMINUM BUILDING [76] Inventor: John Roderick Castle, 12755 74th Ave. North, Seminole, Fla. 33542 221 Filed: Nov. 22, 1972 211 App], No.: 308,905

[52] US. Cl 52/92, 52/57, 52/299, 52/300 [51] Int. Cl E04b 7/04 [58] Field of Search 52/90, 92, 57, 300, 299

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,601,942 8/1971 Wi1son...1 52/300 3,478,474 11/1969 Johansson 52/90 X 3,668,828 6/1972 Nicholas 52/92 3,765,498 10/1956 Kelnhofer 52/92 X 1,062,994 5/1973 Pruden 52/92 X 1,612,554 12/1926 Volk' 52/90 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 530,971 9/1956 Canada 52/90 Primary Examiner-Frank L. Abbott Assistant Examiner-Leslie A. Braun Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak [5 7] ABSTRACT An all aluminum building having an assembly system using extruded structural members having unique cross-sectional configurations which allow the structural support members to be completely constructed on the building site and which interlock and fit together in such a manner'as to form an easily assembled, yet structurally sound building without requiring the use of special construction techniques. The extruded structural support members are used in conjunction with prefabricated aluminum sheet panels for constructing the roof and side walls of the building.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures ALUMINUM BUILDING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION for forming the base plates of walls, vertical wall supporting studs, rafters, and ridge beams. These conventional structures require a considerable amount of time and effort to construct, since the wooden framing members must be nailed together by hand after being manually cut to shape. One improvement in the conventional methods of building construction has been the use of precut lumber for fabricating the building.

More recently materials other than wood have been proposed for use as framing members in building construction. It has been proposed to construct building framing members from steel, plastic, and aluminum.

However, the framing members constructed from these materials have generally had a conventional rect-' angular or L-shaped cross sectional configuration, making it difficult to construct a rigid building structure. Furthermore, the construction of a building with structural members formed of these materials has been very time consuming and costly, due to the particular manner in which the framing members must be joined to achieve structural integrity, and the particular types of connecting members which must be used.

More recently, the concept of prefabricated modular building construction has been developed. This concept incorporates the idea of prefabricating portions of the building, including complete walls, roofs, windows, door sections, etc. in a factory, transporting the prefabricated sections to the building site and assembling the sections in the manner required to construct the building. However, in the past, such prefabricated structures have had the drawbacks of poor structural integrity, as well as very high cost involved in the factory assembly of the prefabricated sections, the transporting of the large sections to the building site and the cost involved to assemble the prefabricated structures. Additional drawbacks to the prefabricated building concept of the prior art is the fact that customed designed buildings cannot be assembled at the building site, since the design and arrangement of each building is predetermined at the factory and is dependent solely upon the prefabricated sections available at the building site.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention seeks to overcome the problems of the prior art building construction techniques by using structural framing members having unique cross-sectional configurations formed by an extrusion process at a site away from the building site. The unique cross-sectional configurations of the structural components enable the framing to be secured together in a particular manner to form a structurally sound building, while enabling the building to be custom built on the building site without being dependent upon particular preassembled structural components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective cut-away view of a portion of a building structure employing the structural-components of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1 illustrating the manner in which the rafters are secured to the ridge beam of the building;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2, showing a top view of the connection of the rafters with the ridge beam;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1 showing the manner in which the rafters are supported by and attached to the vertical wall studs;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 4, showing drainage channels formed in the rafters; and

FIG. 6 is a view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1, showing the manner in which the roof panels are inserted into the" rafters and illustrates the position of the rafter drain channels relative to the roof panels.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, a building constructed according to the present invention and using the structural members thereof is constructed in a generally conventional manner at the building site. The building rests on U-shaped base-channels 10 secured to the building foundation (not shown) and which form the load support member for vertical wall studs 20. The wall studs 20 are capped by a top cap 30 which, in turn, support the rafters 50 extending outwardly from a ridge beam 40 of the building. The ridge beam 40 is supported by center wall studs 20, which are topped with an inverted-base channel member 10, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The unique cross-sectional configurations of the structural framing members according to .the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5. As shown in FIG. 1, the base channel 10 is formed as a continuous aluminum extrusion having a generally U-shaped cross-sectional configuration. The base channel 10 includes ahorizontal base plate or flange member 12, with side flanges 14 attached to each longitudinal edge thereof and extending at right angles to the base plate 12. The width of the base channel member 10 between the interior surfaces of the side flanges 14 is slightly larger than the width of the longest side of the vertical wall studs 20 to accommodate the end of the wall studs 20 therewithin, 'as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The vertical wall studs 20 are formed as a continuous extrusion from aluminum material and have a hollow rectangular cross-sectional configuration. The external dimensions of the extruded vertical studs 20 are essentially the same as the external dimensions of conventional 2 X 4 framing lumber used in conventional building construction.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the top caps 30, which are placed across the tops of the vertical wall studs 20 to support the rafters 50 are formed as a continuous aluminum extrusion having a long side wall or flange 32 and a short side wall or flange 34. A connecting and support flange 36 is joined to one edge of each of the long and short side flanges 32 and 34, respectively, and forms an angle therewith corresponding to the desired angle of the building roof, such that the remaining edges of the side flanges 32 and 34 lie in the same horizontal plane upon assembly of the building. A protrusion or lip 38 is formed longitudinally along the interior surface of the long side flange 32 at right angles thereto, the height of the protrusion or ridge 38 being essentially the same as the interior height of the short flange 34, such that a wall stud will contact both the protrusion 38 and the surface of the angled flange 36' adjacent its point of connection with the short side flange 34, as shown in FIG. 4.

The ridge beam 40 of the present invention has a vertical central support flange 42, as shown in FIG. 2. Top side flanges 44 extend outwardly from the top edge of the vertical central support flange 42 and form an angle therewith corresponding to the desired angle of the roof. Bottom side projections or flanges 46 extend from the remaining lower longitudinal edge of the central support flange 42 in parallel relationship with the top side flanges 44. The dimension between the interior surfaces of the upper and lower side flanges 44 and 46 is essentially the same as the exterior height of the rafters 50 to permit the insertion of the rafters 50 between the flanges 44 and 46 during construction of the buildmg.

Each of the bottom side flanges 46 of the ridge beam 40 has a first L-shaped flange 48 formed along its outer edge and extending inwardly toward the vertical central support flange 42 in parallel relationship with the flanges 46, as seen in FIG.- 2. Sections of the first L- shaped flanges 48 are notched and removed from the ridge beam 40 at those points along the ridge beam 40 where a rafter 50 is to be placed to allow the ends of the rafters 50 to be inserted between the flanges 44 and 46, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The L-shaped flanges 48 act to locate the rafters 50 axially along the ridge beam 40 and prevent the rafters from sliding along the ridge beam 40 during assembly of the building.

The ridge beam extrusion 40 also includes downwardly and inwardly extending second L-shaped flanges 49, shown in FIG. 2, which serve to secure the ridge beam 40 to a base channel 10, as will be described hereinafter.

The rafter extrusion shown in FIG. 5, is also continuously extruded of aluminum material and includes a vertical central flange 52 having upper and lower transverse flanges 54 and 56 formed at its edges at right angles to central flange 52. The lower transverse flanges 56 have an inner portion 58 of reduced thickness on each side of and adjacent to the vertical central flange 52 to form channels 59. The channels 59 form drains channels between each of the roof panels 60 inserted into the channels formed by the flanges of the rafters 50, as shown in FIG. 6.

The roof and wall panels 60 are of a sandwich construction having thin aluminum sheet metal skins 62 attached to a polystyrene sheet 64 by any suitable means, such as an adhesive or the like. The aluminum sheet metal skins 62 are approximately 0.032 inches thick. The polystyrene core 64 may be formed by any suitable method, such as by foaming a styrene material in a known manner. The roof panels 60 are cut to fit tightly between two adjacent rafters 50, as shown in FIG. 1. As will be seen from FIG. 6, the edges of the panels 60 abut the vertical central flange 52 of the rafter extrusion 50, with the channels 59 formed by the reduced thickness portion 58 of the lower flange 56 assisting in the drainage of any water which might leak around the edges of the panels 60.

The manner in which a building employing the structural members of the present invention is constructed will now be described with reference to the various FIGS. Following the construction of a suitable foundation (not shown) for the building, the base channels 10 are secured thereto by any suitable means, such as by bolting to the foundation. The base channels 10 are positioned with the open side facing upward so that the vertical wall studs 20 may be inserted therein. The top caps 30 are then cut to the desired length.

After the top caps 30 have been cut, the vertical wal studs 20 are set in place in the base channels 10, and the top caps 30 placed thereon. The top caps 30 are then secured to the vertical wall studs 20 by any suitable means, such as riveting, sheet metal screws, bolting, or spot welding, with the studs '20, in turn, being securedto the base channels 10 in a likewise manner. If desired, the top caps 30 can be secured to the vertical wall studs 20 prior to placing the studs 20 on the base channels 10.

Following the raising of the exterior walls, the windows are framed with sections of base channel extrusions 10 cut to length, with all doors being framed with sections of vertical wall stud extrusion members 20.

After all doors and windows have been framed, suitable aluminum thermal wall sheeting is used to sheet the entire interior and exterior of the framing system. Such aluminum thermal sheeting is formed in the same manner as the roof panels 60, but has a smaller thickness dimension, on the order of 3/16th of an inch.

Following the sheeting of the framed building, the ridge beam member 40 is placed on a load supporting wall having an inverted base channel 10 placed over the top ends of the vertical wall studs 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, of the drawings. The ridge beam extrusion 40 is secured to the inverted base channel 10 by any suitable means, such as sheet metal screws 9, as shown in FIG. 2, with the inverted base channel 10, in turn, being secured to the vertical studs 20 by similar means, such as sheet metal screws 9. The inverted base channel 10 can'be attached to the ridge beam 40 before being placed over the ends of the wall studs 20, if desired.

Following the attachment ofthe ridge beam 40 to a load supporting wall, the rafters 50 are inserted between the upper and lower flanges 44 and 46 of the ridge beam 40 at predetermined points therealong, following the notching and removal of the L-shaped flanges 48 from the area of the lower flange 46 onwhich the rafter 50 will rest. The notching and removal of the flanges 48 of the ridge beam 40 can be done before or after the ridge beam 40 has been installed. The rafters 50 are secured to the ridge beam 40 by any suitable means. In the preferred embodiment, angle brackets 8 are used. One flange of the angle bracket 8 is bolted to the vertical flange 52 of the rafter 50 by suitable bolts and nuts 4 and 6, and the remaining flange is attached to the vertical central support flange 42 of the ridge beam 40 by bolts 4 and nuts 6.

The ends of the rafters 50 resting on the angled flange 36 of the top caps 30 are attached thereto by means of bolts 4 and nuts 6, or any other suitable method, such as riveting, welding, or the like.

The sandwich roof panels 60 are then inserted into the channels formed between the flanges 54 and 56 of the rafters 50 to complete the enclosing of the building. Special trim and gutters are then placed on gable ends in the roof fascia and windows of the awning type, which may be horizontal or single hung, are positioned in place. If desired, conventional aluminum clapboard siding can then be installed on the building exterior and wood grain paneling or any other desired panel configuration can be attached to the interiorwalls to complete the building.

As will be seen from the foregoing description, the structural features of the present invention enable a building to be quickly and easily assembled at the building site, while eliminating the high cost of production and transportation of prefabricated building sections. Furthermore, the structural features of the present invention permit a custom designed building to be fabricated without relying on special preconstructed panels, forms or sections.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination of a building structure formed of a plurality of extruded members, comprising:

a U-shaped base channel adapted for attachment to a foundation;

a plurality of wall stud members having a generally rectangular hollow cross-section positioned vertically within said U-shaped base channel;

a three-sided elongated cap member positioned over the uppermost ends of said vertical wall stud members, said three-sided elongated member having two parallel sides and a third side joining said two parallel sides, one of said parallel sides having a width greater than the width of said opposite parallel side, the width of said parallel sides being determined to position said third side at a selected angle corresponding to the roof angle of said building;

a horizontal longitudinal ridge beam, said ridge beam including a vertical central support flange, top and bottom side flanges extending from each edge of said vertical central support flange on both sides of said central support flange, said top and bottom side flanges extending from the same side of said vertical central support flange being positioned parallel to each other and forming an angle with said vertical central support flange corresponding to the selected angle of the roof of said building, the bottom outwardly extending side flanges of said ridge beam having first L-shaped flanges formed along their outer edges and extenting upward and inward toward said central support flange to form a U-shaped channel along the outer edges of said bottom side flanges, and second L-shaped flanges formed on the bottom surfaces of said bottom side 6 flanges in the longitudinal direction, said second L-shaped flanges having one flange lying in planes parallel to the plane of said vertical central support flange and the other flange formed at right angles to said first flange extending inwardly, the distance between the outer vertical surfaces of said L- shaped flanges corresponding to the width of said U-shaped base channel; said longitudinal ridge beam being secured to the flat surface of a further U-shaped base channel, said further U-shaped base channel, in turn, being positioned on the top end surfaces of a plurality of upstanding vertical wall stud members to form a vertical support for the ridge beam of a building being constructed;

and rafter members for supporting the roof of said building being positioned between said ridge beam and said cap members forming the top edge of an exterior wall, said rafter members being of an I- beam cross-sectional configuration, the height of said rafter members being equal to the perpendicular dimension between the two parallel edges extending from one side of said ridge beam, said U- shaped channel of said ridge beam being notched to accommodate the end of said rafters positioned adjacent said ridge beam, said rafters being rigidly attached to said ridge beam and to said cap to form a stable building structure.

2. A building structure formed of extruded members as claimed in claim 1 further comprising, a plurality of planar sheets positioned between each of said rafters to form the roof of said building, the opposite longitudinal edges of each of said-sheets lying in channels formed between the flanges extending on each side of said rafters, each of said panels being secured to said rafters to form a rigid roof structure. 1

3. A building construction as claimed in claim 2, wherein said sheets forming the roof of said building comprise a sheet aluminum skin laminated to each side of a panel core formed of expanded polystyrene, and including adhesive for permanently attaching each of said aluminum skins to the surfaces of said expanded polystyrene cores.

4. A building structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the bottom flanges of said rafter has a reducedthickness portion along the length thereof adjacent the upstanding section of said rafter, said reduced thickness sections forming drainage channels in said rafters to prevent the leakage of water into the interior of said building. I

5. A building structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means to secure said structural members to each other includes L-shaped angle brackets having one flange bolted to the upstanding vertical portion of said rafter and the second flange secured to the vertically upstanding portion of said ridge beam. 

1. The combinaTion of a building structure formed of a plurality of extruded members, comprising: a U-shaped base channel adapted for attachment to a foundation; a plurality of wall stud members having a generally rectangular hollow cross-section positioned vertically within said U-shaped base channel; a three-sided elongated cap member positioned over the uppermost ends of said vertical wall stud members, said three-sided elongated member having two parallel sides and a third side joining said two parallel sides, one of said parallel sides having a width greater than the width of said opposite parallel side, the width of said parallel sides being determined to position said third side at a selected angle corresponding to the roof angle of said building; a horizontal longitudinal ridge beam, said ridge beam including a vertical central support flange, top and bottom side flanges extending from each edge of said vertical central support flange on both sides of said central support flange, said top and bottom side flanges extending from the same side of said vertical central support flange being positioned parallel to each other and forming an angle with said vertical central support flange corresponding to the selected angle of the roof of said building, the bottom outwardly extending side flanges of said ridge beam having first L-shaped flanges formed along their outer edges and extenting upward and inward toward said central support flange to form a U-shaped channel along the outer edges of said bottom side flanges, and second L-shaped flanges formed on the bottom surfaces of said bottom side flanges in the longitudinal direction, said second L-shaped flanges having one flange lying in planes parallel to the plane of said vertical central support flange and the other flange formed at right angles to said first flange extending inwardly, the distance between the outer vertical surfaces of said Lshaped flanges corresponding to the width of said U-shaped base channel; said longitudinal ridge beam being secured to the flat surface of a further U-shaped base channel, said further U-shaped base channel, in turn, being positioned on the top end surfaces of a plurality of upstanding vertical wall stud members to form a vertical support for the ridge beam of a building being constructed; and rafter members for supporting the roof of said building being positioned between said ridge beam and said cap members forming the top edge of an exterior wall, said rafter members being of an I-beam cross-sectional configuration, the height of said rafter members being equal to the perpendicular dimension between the two parallel edges extending from one side of said ridge beam, said U-shaped channel of said ridge beam being notched to accommodate the end of said rafters positioned adjacent said ridge beam, said rafters being rigidly attached to said ridge beam and to said cap to form a stable building structure.
 2. A building structure formed of extruded members as claimed in claim 1 further comprising, a plurality of planar sheets positioned between each of said rafters to form the roof of said building, the opposite longitudinal edges of each of said sheets lying in channels formed between the flanges extending on each side of said rafters, each of said panels being secured to said rafters to form a rigid roof structure.
 3. A building construction as claimed in claim 2, wherein said sheets forming the roof of said building comprise a sheet aluminum skin laminated to each side of a panel core formed of expanded polystyrene, and including adhesive for permanently attaching each of said aluminum skins to the surfaces of said expanded polystyrene cores.
 4. A building structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the bottom flanges of said rafter has a reduced thickness portion along the length thereof adjacent the upstanding section of said rafter, said reduced thickness sections forming drainage channels in said rafters to prevent the leakage of waTer into the interior of said building.
 5. A building structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means to secure said structural members to each other includes L-shaped angle brackets having one flange bolted to the upstanding vertical portion of said rafter and the second flange secured to the vertically upstanding portion of said ridge beam. 